Stringing

Stringing is the most important maintenance done on a racket. Aside from restringing when they are broken, a racket should also be restrung on a regular basis regardless if the strings are broken or not.

Not only do strings lose tension while sitting in a racket, more significantly, they lose their elasticity.

Elasticity of strings is felt as the easy power a fresh stringbed provides. Losing this puts much more strain on the user, resulting in less spin and pace on groundstrokes, and can lead to physical pain.

The professionals get their rackets freshly restrung for every match, warm-up and practice session to ensure they are playing with their equipment at its optimal quality.

Obviously, this is a bit unrealistic for the rest of us. Thankfully however, Racket Stringing Associations around the world have come up with a neat compromise: 

The number of times you play in a week reflects the number of times you should restring in a year.

 As an example, if you play three times a week, it is recommended the racket should be restrung three times a year.

Often, brand new rackets will be sold "factory strung," which - as the name suggests - is stringing done at the racket factory.

To save money and time, factories use a very cheap string and a very damaging method of stringing that simply doesn't have the quality and care that a qualified stringer brings to the table. Plus, these "factory strung" rackets will often sit for months in warehouses before being shipped, during which the cheap strings lose what tension and elasticity they had, resulting in a very sub-par playing experience for the buyer.

We highly recommend buying rackets unstrung, as this preserves the quality of the frame by not subjecting it to the very cumbersome stringing methods employed in factories.

All rackets sold through Racket Services Ireland are strung free of charge on purchase - we want the racket performing at it's best.

Polyester strings provide excellent control and durability for string-breakers, however they do have their downsides.

For example, polyester strings lose tension and elasticity very quickly, resulting in a "dead" feel that affects your tennis - and more importantly, damages your arm. As a result, it is crucial to string at the recommended intervals in a year.

Even at their best, polyester strings can be quite underpowered and stiff for most players - even professionals!

Before upgrading to a full bed of polyester strings, we recommend trying a hybrid setup. This combines polyester and synthetic gut on one stringbed, combining the durability and spin given by polyester, with the power and feel of synthetic gut.

This hybrid setup sacrifices a little durability/spin and a little power/feel in order to get the best of both types of string.

Professional players such as Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray chose this approach for their rackets.

Second to the string itself, string tension is very important.

As a general rule of thumb, higher tensions provide more control, and lower tensions provide more power.

Where is gets complex is when you consider the type of strings you are using. For example, polyester strings are very stiff, so can be strung at a lower tension than the synthetic gut while still retaining the same degree of control.

We are happy to discuss string tensions before the stringing process starts, so we can find the optimal tension for you.

All stringing at Racket Services Ireland is completed by UKRSA Qualified Professional Tournament Stringer Michael Flanigan.

Michael has trained under former a former Wimbledon Head Stringer, and has the necessary experience to ensure rackets are properly strung in a variety of different stringing patterns, avoiding damage to the frame and ensuring quality in the final product.

Michael is also certified to string at a professional tournament standard, ensuring all stringing is completed to the highest level possible, with meticulous attention to detail and complete consistency across all rackets.